Anniversary Card by Roselyn Riley

Check out this beautiful Anniversary Card Created by Roselyn Riley

Gina's Designs Fall Mini Album

Good Morning

Check out this cute Fall mini album that I made using Gina’s Fall Shape set and various other shape sets from Gina’s Designs.

Thanks for looking!

For the cover:

The cover was made using two pieces of chipboard that I cover with painted canvas. I painted Gina’s Trees and the fall banner from Gina’s fall shape set with brown paint and added gold leaf foil to the pieces. Next I layered up the painted chipboard with a few fall colored flowers from my stash.

This page was made using Gina’s Hinges shape set and Gina’s fall shape set. Once again I painted the chipboard and added fall flowers to the corner. The glittered chipboard piece is from Gina’s Fall set. The hinges are being used to hold the pull out journaling tag.

 Here I used Gina's Designs Fall Shape set, Gina's Designs Banner Builder Dovetail Minis and fall flowers to make this page.

 This page features a rake used from Gina's Designs Shape set, Gina's Designs miniature clipboards and CTMH fall rub-ons, twine, ribbon and flowers from my stash.The rake was colored and blended with grey and white gel sticks. I added ribbon,twine and a small flower to the top part of the rake. The pumpkin is a rub on from CTMH. The lace border that the pumpkin is on was created using a Martha Stewart punch. The journaling card is a Gina's Designs miniature clipboards that I cover with paper. I hot glue the clip in the set to the back of the flower creating what you see in photo 3!

Trinidad style stew chicken recipe- Heritage Month

 Here is a great recipe for Trinidad style Stew Chicken. It looks like a lot but it really isn't as complicated as it seems. If your feeling to try something new, this should do the trick.

You’ll need…
1 (4-5 pounds) whole chicken, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 cloves of garlic – thinly sliced or crushed
1 teaspoon fresh/bottled ginger – crushed. (use 1/2 if it’s ginger powder)
2 tablespoon vegetable oil (one that can withstand high heat)
1 medium onion – chopped
1 medium tomato – chopped
2-3 tablespoon cilantro (or 2 tbs Trinidad green meat seasoning)
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 hot pepper (only if you like your food spicy)
1 green onion or chive – chopped
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (1 teaspoon dried)
1 lime or lemon or 3 tablespoons of vinegar
Lets get started…
Preparing the chicken. Cut or ask your butcher to cut the chicken into serving size pieces. In a bowl empty the cut chicken and squeeze the lime or lemon (or vinegar) onto the chicken, then add some water from your tap to cover the pieces of chicken. Now wash each piece individually, removing skin and any fat . Now rinse with a new batch of water and drain.
Now in the same bowl with the freshly washed chicken you’ll add ALL the ingredients EXCEPT the oil, sugar and cup of water, we’ll be using those to cook the chicken. Here’s what it should look like (remember to mix everything around and let it sit (marinate) in the fridge for about 1hr before cooking.

FYI, you’ve just seasoned the chicken. After about an hour or so it time to get things moving. It’s best if you could find a solid or heavy pan/pot, like a dutch oven for the actual cooking process. The heavier the pan, the better the oil will heat evenly and the chicken will caramelize for you. On high heat, add the oil to the pan. Just before the oil starts to smoke, add the brown sugar. TIP – be sure to have the seasoned chicken handy, use a long handle spoon (it will get hot) and oven mitts to hold onto the pot to turn the pieces of chicken to get it evenly coated. It’s important that you keep an eye on things and be ready to act fast. Next tip – it can get a bit smoky with the high heat at this point, so you may want to turn the exhaust fan over your stove on or open a window in the event you have smoke detectors installed.
Here’s a pic of adding the sugar to the hot oil.

 Move around the sugar in the pot (remember to use a dry spoon with a long handle), until it starts to melt. Now keep a close eye on things here, since you’re looking for the sugar to go a bit foamy, and change color to golden. See pic below. Notice the bottom left of the picture where the sugar appears a bit darker? That’s the exact color you’re looking for before adding the chicken.

 At this point you can start adding the pieces of chicken into the pot with the caramelized sugar. Try to be quick, since you don’t want the sugar to go much darker than in the picture above. Be sure to coat every piece of chicken so it “browns” evenly. Now cover the pot and let simmer for about 5 -10 minutes. you’ll notice that the pot will now have some excess water in it.

Remove the lid and turn the heat back up to high. Let’s get rid of that water that formed earlier.We’re ensuring that all the pieces of meat is nice an golden brown at this point. Ensure that there’s no water left in the pot.. it will seems as if it’s starting to stick or burn.
Now add the cup of water to the bowl that contained the seasoned chicken. Swish it around so you get all the seasoning bits that were left back. Add this water to the pot so you can continue cooking the chicken for another 25 minutes or so. Turn the heat back down to a simmer and let cook until the water thickens up to a nice gravy like consistency.

  Enjoy!

Recipe Courtesy Of caribbeanpot.com/

Wire Ring

Today I felt like doing something different. I decided to try my hand at making a ring. I think I may have dinged up the wire a bit but otherwise I think it came out nice for a 1st try.

Book Box Gina's Designs DT Project- Heritage Month

When visiting any of the Caribbean Islands you are sure to find an array of bright colors and beautiful tropical flowers. Most people live a laid back life and typically do things on their own time. I thought it would be fitting to finish my book box from Gina's designs as a time piece using colors that reminded me of the tropical plant life of the Island.
Thanks for looking!

I used
Gina's Designs Book Boxes ( large and small)
Gina's Designs Dragonflies and Butterflies
Faber Castell Gel Pens
Modeling Paste
Acrylic Paint
Stickers
Clock Making Kit ( Hobby Lobby)
Flowers and leaves ( stash)
Fancy Pants Buttons
Cherry Arts Paper
Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray dyes

 

How to make Curry Chicken- Heritage

Ok so I actually thought about typing out directions on how to make this dish but I remembered seeing a video on youtube a while back. I remember thinking that when I tried to teach my friend over the phone it was very difficult for her because she didn't have a visual reference. It's pretty close to the way I was taught to make the dish and it's very easy to follow. He also gives a link to his website where you can find everything typed out. It's too much to copy but he gives very good step by step instructions with pictures on his site.

Caribbean Heritage Carnival Mask

Carnival was introduced to Trinidad around 1785, as the French settlers began to arrive. The use of masks had special meaning for the slaves, because for many African peoples, masking is widely used in their rituals for the dead.
For African people, carnival became a way to express their power as individuals, as well as their rich cultural traditions.

Trinidad's carnival is a beautiful example of how carnival can unite the world. For in this small nation, the beliefs and traditions of many cultures have come together; and for a brief five days each year, the whole country forgets their differences to celebrate life! As a part of my tribute I have created these two Caribbean Heritage Carnival Mask.

Item's used from Gina's Designs
Peacock Feathers Shape Set

Caribbean Rum Punch-Heritage

Caribbean Rum Punch

SIMPLIFIED

I remember my mother mixing ingredients similar to these to make the most delicious looking rum punch. The version she made had more ingredients such as different fruit juices and fruits but I recently made this variation and it was very good.

    1 cup fresh lime juice

    2 cups simple syrup
Make this by (dissolving one cup of sugar in one cup of hot water, then cooled)

    3 cups amber rum

    4 cups orange juice

    4 dashes of Angostura Bitters

    Freshly grated nutmeg

Directions

In a pitcher, combine lime juice, simple syrup, rum and orange juice. Add a few dashes of bitters and some grated nutmeg to taste. Serve chilled over ice.

Warning: It has a delayed effect so drink responsibly.

Gina's Designs Heritage Banner- Trinidad & Tobago

 Friends, family and fun; the smells of curry and spices in the air; calypso music and steel drums playing in the background. To be a child again! Today, I can still remember every detail just as if it were yesterday. As an adult, all of these wonderful things are still a very big part of my life. 

On August 31, 1962 Trinidad and Tobago achieved independence from Britain. This month I will post various projects in commemoration and as a tribute to my heritage. My first project for this month is a Heritage banner made using Gina’s Designs Banner Shape Set. I chose to use the colors of red, black and white because they are the colors of Trinidad and Tobago. The red base represents the vigor of the land in Trinidad and Tobago, the friendliness and courage of its people and the sun. The black represents the unity and strength of the people, as well as the natural wealth of the country. The white represents the surrounding sea and the purity and equality of all people under the sun. All together the colors represent earth, water, fire.

 Trinidad & Tobago Flag

Gina's Designs Heritage Banner- Trinidad & Tobago

Items Used:

Gina's Designs Banners set

Black paint

Red paint

White paint

Feathers

Rhinestones

sequin trim